Predicted Chelsea lineup against Everton: Academy Day, with a touch of Magic

In an ideal world, not only would Antonio Conte be able to rotate his entire starting eleven for this match, but also collect a simple and straightforward win against Everton, who have become the latest team to part ways with their coach after sacking Ronald Koeman on Monday. Whoever will be in charge of the visitors come Wednesday will be tasked with engendering some sort of massive response from the demoralized squad, which could result in either a Chelsea laugher or an improbable, excellent, pressure-free performance from the Toffees.

Funny thing, that pressure.

Chelsea were feeling a fair amount of it on the weekend as well, but managed to turn it into a rousing 4-2 victory. There may be some temptation to play some of the same players and build directly on the momentum, Conte has more or less revealed that this League Cup fourth round encounter will be another proverbial Academy Day, just like the previous round.

The Chelsea head coach has already confirmed starts for Musonda Jr and Kenedy, while we can probably rest assured that the likes of Hazard, Morata, Bakayoko, Alonso, David Luiz, Courtois, and a few others will be rested. The only real dilemma remains in midfield, as has been the case lately, with Drinkwater and Kanté remaining out and both Bakayoko and David Luiz carrying minor knocks. The one name not mentioned amongst those is is Cesc “ironman” Fàbregas who’s probably well overude a rest but will have to be called into action once again, perhaps next to a youngster like Ethan Ampadu or Kyle Scott.

3-4-3:
Caballero | Rüdiger, Christensen, Clarke-Salter | Kenedy, Fàbregas, Ampadu, Zappacosta | Musonda, Batshuayi, Willian

The WAGNH community’s preference is almost in full agreement, with Cahill just edging out young Jake Clarke-Salter (45% vs. 42%) for that last starting spot.

3-4-3 (84%):
Caballero (89%) | Cahill (45%), Christensen (99%), Rüdiger (85%) | Kenedy (91%), Fàbregas (59%), Ampadu (70%), Zappacosta (89%) | Musonda (94%), Batshuayi (95%), Willian (75%)